Alfred Cannan will deliver his first Budget as Treasury Minister today (Tuesday).

And it promises to provide a change of direction from the last administration - putting, he insists, the needs of society first rather than focusing solely on spreadsheets.

’It’s not all about the numbers,’ said Mr Cannan.

In an interview with iomtoday, he revealed that his predecessor Eddie Teare left him a letter when he took over at Treasury - but unlike the note famously left by UK Labour Treasury secretary Liam Byrne to his Coalition successor this one didn’t have any nasty shocks.

He said: ’I can confirm that Mr Teare left me a letter in the drawer. I’m not going to tell you what it said but it didn’t say "there’s no money left"!’

Mr Cannan said when he arrived at Treasury, the overall picture concerning the public finances was as he had assumed, but added: ’That wasn’t necessarily how it had been presented.’

He said that in trying to address the challenges presented by the huge cut in VAT revenue, the last administration had ’perhaps taken its eye off what was right for society’.

The Treasury Minister added: ’The best way of summarising this Budget is a change of emphasis. We need to stop concentrating solely on spreadsheets and start looking at what is right for society first.

’I do think it’s important that if we are to succeed as an administration, the whole of society has to come with us.’

So does this mean a more caring government? ’It will be a government more attuned to the needs of society,’ Mr Cannan replied.

’In some areas we have failed to deal in the right way with issues around the more vulnerable in our society. We need to be a bit more focused and targeted and proportionate.

’I’m concerned that not just in Manx society but globally there has been this gap opening up between the very wealthy and the less well-off. We need to be mindful of that.’

He said the issue of transparency in the government finances was one he is keen to improve.

’I think in the past, without pointing a finger at anybody and not just in the Isle of Man government, there has been a lot of smoke and mirrors for political purposes. That’s not always the best approach.

’If we are going to take society with us we need to have that level of clarity. That’s going to be one of the key focuses for me - not just in this Budget but carried forward.

’I want to make it clear to everybody what the deficit is, how we are coping with it and what we are going to do about it.’

Mr Cannan said he will be announcing in his Budget steps and specific actions to deal with the deficit.

He gave credit to the previous administration for making efforts to improve the presentation of the public finance figures, but added: ’We will be taking steps to make those even more understandable and easier to read.’

Mr Cannan said there were many positives to report, with income tax and National Insurance figures likely to come in over-budget and more people in employment then ever.

But there were external pressures, too, not least the uncertainty over Brexit.

And in the public finances there remains that clear deficit. A key factor in that is the cost of public sector pensions - proposed reforms to cut benefits and increase contributions rates will be going before this week’s Tynwald sitting following the Budget debate.

Another area is the strong cost pressures on the health and social care services, driven largely by the island’s ageing population.

’It doesn’t mean we can just chuck money at the problem. We have to approach it in the round,’ said the Treasury Minister.

He said over the next 12 months or so, the public can expect announcements on changes to the state pension. Also over the next year, Treasury will be looking very actively at the spending of government departments.

The budget is tight, admits Mr Cannan. ’We need to take a tough approach. We have not got the money to throw at this.

’The underlying issues are still there. I’m sure not everyone will agree with the way forward. I like to think that the Budget will be received in a warm manner but clearly that remains to be seen.’